Total Focus & The Family

As my regular readers know, we've been trying Total Focus in an effort to help both Tristen and our whole family to deal with his ADHD more effectively. It is a great program and we are loving it so far.



One thing I really like about it is that you can succeed at this program whether it's just you and your child one on one, or if you can get your whole family on board. Obviously getting everyone involved is wonderful, but if it's just you and your kiddo, that is great as well.

Another thing I really like is the family meeting. The system tells you to have a family meeting to introduce the fact you will be using Total Focus and it's going to help the whole family to improve themselves. Notice the "whole family". You are not singling out your ADHD child, but making goals for the entire family. Self improvement is a good thing for everyone. We had never had family meetings before, but we love them! I have a feeling they will be a tradition in our house from now on.

I really like that Total Focus promotes working on things together. So many of the tips and activities can be helpful to everyone, not just those with ADHD. I think all of us have worked on ourselves a bit thanks to Total Focus.

The parent's bonus cd on "first aid" for parents has been quite helpful. We have implemented ideas such as the first time club, the high sign technique, and let's remember the rules with both children. These things have definitely shown results and quickly too.

Included with Total Focus is 52 Stress Reducers for Parents. Parenting can be a challenge under normal circumstances, but throw in the blessing of an ADHD child, and things can sometimes be quite hard. I will freely admit that there have been times that I wasn't sure how much more I could put up with. It is so hard not to crack under all the back talk and limit testing sometimes. These things are all getting better now that we are doing Total Focus, but know how to calm down never hurts. These tips have been quite helpful.

So, we are still moving forward with Total Focus as a family. We are extremely pleased with the progress we are all making so far. Stay tuned for further updates as we progress further.

As always, if you have any questions at all about the Total Focus program, do not hesitate to email me. I will answer questions and try to help in any way I can.

Let's Get Focused

Part of the Total Focus program is a disc for your child to listen to. It was only about 15 minutes long, but getting Tristen to sit still and actually listen to it took four attempts. I ended up having to go sit Indian style in the center of the living room with him to help get him away from distractions.

I was so happy that he listened to this disc and actually let it sink in. He now realizes that he is not dumber than everyone else, he is not a bad kid, and he is not retarded...all things he has said before. We've tried to reassure him about this, but I don't think he believed us. Now he knows that his brain just doesn't work like everyone elses and that is not the end of the world. It was such a blessing to see him relieved and understanding that he is different, but he can find ways to manage his differences.

My next post on the Total Focus will cover the bonus disc ADHD: First Aid for Parents.

Will Total Focus Work for Us?

We are trying out the Total Focus program in an effort to better understand and handle Tristen's ADHD. I am hoping he will learn some skills that will help him function better at school and at home. As parents, we are hoping to learn ways to help Tristen cope and to interact better with him. I plan to post on every disc in the system, sort of a review as we go.



Tristen was diagnosed at four years old with ADHD and that began years of roller coaster emotions. He's been on more meds than you can shake a stick at. One made him hallucinate, one made him a zombie, he wouldn't eat, he couldn't sleep, or the meds were damaging his organs. I cannot tell you how many doctors we've seen in an effort to help him. I love his current doctor. She has had him off meds for two years for various reasons. He is doing okay in school, his grades are great, we just need to work on impulsiveness. She really feels that a no medication treatment is better for Tristen. She's the one with a degree, so this is what we are doing. THere are times that I think he needs to move in with her. But, now that we have all this preteen hormonal stuff going on, it's hard to know what is ADHD and what is raging hormones.

Parenting Tristen is a wild ride. He is very hard to discipline. Nothing seems to matter. If you ground him, he says "Okay" and truly seems to not care. He is extremely sensitive and will cry at the drop of a hat. One moment he wants to be treated more grown up, the next he wants to cuddle with you on the sofa. At times he seems completely incapable of following directions. As parents, it's so hard not to get discouraged. We were pretty much at the end of our rope!

Then we found Total Focus. The Parent's Audio Lesson is just what we needed to hear. It explains so much! For instance, I now know that Tristen is not thinking things through and then deciding to "be bad" because he's not thinking things through at all. It is full of wonderful information that helps explain how ADHD kids think and how they see things. It was very eye opening for us. This information has allowed me to rethink how I handle a lot of situations and to find different ways of going about things. Knowing what motivated the behavior has really helped. So, for all those other parents at their wit's end from dealing with ADHD, this program might be the answer for you. We are only one disc in and it's already helping our family.


SAVING is good.